Mangalore Jail, dist hospital woes come to fore

DHNS

• Inmates narrate heart wrenching tales to SHRC chief

 

Mangalore, 18 Jan 2012: A person who should have been imprisoned only for a year pertaining to Excise case, has been in jail over the last three years because he has not been produced before the Court properly.

 

This undertrial has been cooking in jail for the last three years! Some of the heart wrenching tales of the inmates of Mangalore jail came to light when State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) Chairperson Justice S R Nayak paid a sudden visit on Tuesday.

 

The inmates said that there is acute shortage of security staff who take the inmates and produce them before the Court due to which the inmates have not been produced before the Court on time.

 

The capacity of the jail is 150 but at present there are 245 prisoners. There are less then 10 staff manning the jail. As many as eight women prisoners too walked up to Justice Nayak and spoke about their problems. However, when Justice Nayak was inspecting the jail, the media was prohibited from visiting the jail.

 

Justice Nayak asked Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh to submit a proposal to the Government seeking appointment of required number of staff and forward a copy of the same to him.

 

Lack of cleanliness

Nayak was taken aback by the unhygienic conditions prevailing inside the jail. “There are flies in the jail and the walls have turned black. The inmates too have been contributing substantially to the mess. They spit here and there carelessly. This atmosphere can breed any contagious disease,” he said adding that there is a need for change in the Jail.

 

He said that the inmates might have been living in jail for their mistake but they are also human beings and their rights cannot be violated.

 

He warned Jailer P S Ambekar of action if the situation continued to be the same during his next surprise visit.

 

Justice Nayak informed the reporters that an inmate produced before him a cup of Sambar that is served to them in the Jail. “The sambar had no vegetables and Dal in it. However, when I saw the Sambar in the kitchen, the container had vegetables and Dal in it,” he said.

 

Wenlock story

Justice Nayak’s surprise visit to District Wenlock Hospital too was no different from the District Jail. Seeing sewage flowing near the hostel, in the Wenlock premises, Justice Nayak could not help but give an ultimatum of two days to clear the same.

 

Nagarika Hitharakshana Vedike President Hanumath Kamath said that though the Government has been providing funds of crores of rupees, it is being misused. He said that since last two days there has been no staff to get X-ray done. “There is no co-ordination between DMO and RMO. This is creating problems in the hospital,” said Kamath.

 

However, District Surgeon Dr Sangameshwar said that there is dearth of funds and the hospital is running the show with available funds.